MYTH #2: "A website is not the holy grail of marketing."

Actually, it kinda is. Your website is your front door. More people will visit your website than your lobby or waiting room. It is the HUB of all your marketing. We’re so past the advent of the digital age that digital age sounds vintage now, so if you want to attract way more patients to your practice, it’s time to accept that most of what goes on in the world is online. In fact, 75% of consumers admit to making judgments on a company’s credibility based on the company’s website design – the DESIGN (not what is said on it). It’s just like dressing nice for a date. If you wear a puka shell necklace or parachute pants, your date isn’t going to want to see you again. And all before you got to show them your Pokémon card collection. What a shame…

Now maybe you have a pretty site and you are getting some traffic (visits), but if it’s not mobile friendly… is it really a site at all? Nowadays, the first place people go when they want to do anything on the Internet is in their pocket. It’s no wonder 74% of users are more likely to return to your site if it’s mobile-friendly.

Your site needs to load fast. 83% of people expect a website to load in 3 seconds or less. Try counting to 3 seconds right now…one – two – three… while visualizing a web page loading. How badly did you want to click away from your imaginary page BEFORE you stopped counting? That’s exactly the opposite of how you want your patients to feel. The point here…your website needs to load quickly.

Here are some considerations for when you polish up your “holy grail of a website” for a legendary 2021:

• Is your site in a content management system (CMS)?
  • No site should be without a CMS – it ensures quick updates.
• Is your site responsive?
  • Google will penalize your site if it’s not navigable on all devices. Of course you want patients to be able to view it on their tablet or cell phone.
• Do you have an SSL Certificate? (HTTPS at the front)
  • This ensures that your visitors can trust your website. Google will also penalize your site if it doesn’t have SSL certificate. They are getting serious!
• Do you update your content monthly or yearly? (articles, blogs, etc.)
  • Consistently updated websites make it to the top of search more often.
• Are you leveraging analytics to make decisions?
  • The best decisions are backed up by data.